The World That Never Will Be
by the infamous and notorious tocasia
first chapter posted on 7/26/2018
Trapped in the Realm of Darkness, Aqua meets an unlikely ally. He seems willing to befriend her, but can she trust him?
tags: Sephiroth, Aqua, Aquaroth, Xehanort, AU, wandering in the darkness, romance what romance, slowest of slow burns, friendship, angst, crack pairing inspired by chachacharlieco on tumblr who does wonderful art, an unbreakable connection, I reject your reality and substitute my own, interior monologues, stream of consciousness, emotions are tough, Aqua needs a hug, Sephiroth wants a friend, Hurt/Comfort, the Darkness!, canon-typical violence, I'm so sorry Cloud, fluff, irreconcilable differences?, rejection?, Sephiroth is so done, fill me with the power of dark chocolate!, twitterpated,
CHAPTER 1
"I do not need someone to complete me. But if you wanted to, we could walk next to each other into whatever is coming next." - Meghan Lynn
Her reflexes protected her, to some extent. Aqua dodged another bolt of darkness, deafening and spiteful. Her wanderings had brought her beneath a perpetual thunderstorm in a shrouded sky. She didn't fear the lightning so much as the storm's malice and its unrelenting corrosion of her mental resilience.
She didn't care anymore that she thought out loud. Maybe her voice was proof of her existence.
"Time has no measure in the Realm of Darkness, but I've been stuck here for... I know it's been a long time. I've visited countless abandoned towns, survived many fights, cast and recast my spells; I know their durations. Or I used to. It could still be a dream, or a memory. This place warps everything. It hates, it wants to destroy, but only after it corrupts insidiously. No wonder we oppose the darkness."
A wide, flat plain, a haunted wasteland. In all directions, visibility was deceptively endless. The horizon was a triumph of emptiness.
"If I had known how terrible it truly is, I wouldn't have come here. But then Terra would be here instead. It's safer for me to be here than him. I passed the test; I controlled my darkness better. I should be able to handle it."
Her every step disturbed wisps of thin dusky smoke.
"But I'm slipping."
Was that a whisper of movement in the distance? She willed herself to search for the source.
There! Still far away.
A gargantuan, formed of shadow, with blazing yellow eyes, snakelike tendrils for a crown, and a heart-shaped hole straight through its chest. Tiny vestigial wings, bare like winter branches... An average specimen of the creature she called a Darkside. As good a name for them as any. They were everywhere down here.
This one's aura of dread was particularly strong. She crushed the intruding desire to flee.
Aqua felt the tremors when its massive fist impacted the ground. But that was a short-ranged attack, and she couldn't be the target. It was fighting something else? That was new.
The Darkside fired a cloud of red energy balls into the air. They drifted down like snow, embers to melt the earth, enabling her to see...
The flash of a long and narrow blade, reflecting light that didn't exist, that shone also on silver hair. A trace of iridescent blue, but mostly a blur of black. The lesser shadows the Darkside spawned for defense died instantly with a single sweep of that sword, presenting no obstacle for its wielder.
Appearances meant nothing. She couldn't trust her senses; the Realm of Darkness spun entrapping mirages from her fears.
"But why would it trick me with an image of someone fighting the darkness?"
Did the darkness want her to watch the stranger fall? Was it trying to say she was helpless, that she couldn't save them? Then she'd prove it wrong!
She summoned Master's Defender in a burst of defiant white light.
Using the flat terrain to her advantage, Aqua hurled a Blizzaga spell toward the melee and launched herself at speed to ride its icy trail.
He fought with a calm sort of fury and little exertion, unquestionably a master swordsman. The sword was of monstrous length, excessive compared to her keyblade. Impossibly, he wielded it without awkwardness. He preferred gravity-defying aerial attacks and, like her, had no difficulty reaching the Darkside's vulnerable upper half. His maneuvers were complex, fluid arcs almost too fast to follow. A blind approach would be risky; he wouldn't know her intentions were good.
It might be best if she supported with magic from afar. She scanned for opportunities to heal, but he didn't seem to need it.
Taking careful aim to avoid hitting the stranger, Aqua gathered what hope she could manage and locked on. Her wheel of rainbow projectiles flew at the heartless, a prismatic barrage of perfect accuracy.
That caught the attention of both combatants, and she was surprised to be the focus of two pairs of glowing eyes. His were a brilliant blue-green. His expression became one of interest. He nodded to acknowledge her, and beckoned her closer, signaling that he would accept her aid.
Slower to respond, the Darkside began to charge its heart-shaped void with red energy, preparing its strongest attack.
He leapt back, changing the tempo of his strikes.
He was giving her an opening! He'd moved so he wouldn't slash her by mistake! She rushed forward.
Did the heartless understand his taunts?
The Darkside released its volley of homing darkballs, crackling with the promise of pain. All converged on him, leaving her to go on the offensive. He didn't bother to dodge or shield? Aqua winced in preemptive sympathy but didn't stop. It would be wrong to waste this chance.
One of her highest jumps had her hovering at the colossus's shoulder, an ideal position. Another air dash and she was in range. Again and again she struck its neck with her keyblade, roaring a battle cry, Master's Defender shooting sparks, until it was enough, and she unleashed the end of her combo, absolutely ferocious, the helical pillar of white light that was her magic.
She landed gracefully as the Darkside dissipated into nothingness. The stranger was watching her, uninjured.
He was tall. And very handsome. His, uh, majestic... silver hair fell past his waist. A long black coat, cinched with a belt, worn open, his exposed chest arrogantly inviting attack. The iridescent blue came from light playing on the feathers of a large wing on his right side, and she had been wise to not get in the way of his ridiculous sword.
...something in the back of her brain screeched to a halt because he was gorgeous, and she wanted to blush.
He seemed not at all self-conscious during her assessment. But...
"It's not the darkness of the heartless I was sensing... it's his."
His darkness was overwhelming.
But he hadn't threatened her.
"Who are you?" she braved, remembering that if he was real it was rude to talk to herself.
His voice was even deeper than Terra's. "Sephiroth."
It sounded like he left something off. A title maybe, to explain his air of authority. Sephiroth. She'd heard the name before. Think, Aqua.
"You're the hero Zack admires!"
He stiffened at her outburst.
"I was."
How much did she know?
His would-be rescuer was a young woman with short blue hair, dressed in tight-fitting black with purple crossed chest straps. Shoulders bare, white half-sleeves and blue fabric around her waist that streamed behind her as she moved, like a dancer. No armor? Such confidence. Perhaps it was deserved. Right-handed, she still held her keyblade. Her eyes were a bright cerulean that unfortunately reminded him of Cloud's.
She was not far from falling into darkness. The spidery cracks in her psyche were wedged apart; the hope beneath was scarcely a flicker of what her light could be.
She was strong, impressively so. The mindless darkness was unworthy to devour her heart. He had power in this realm; if he chose mercy, she would not suffer that fate. And he could always decide differently.
"Will you let me travel with you for a while?" he offered.
Doubt, grim determination, and then acceptance flitted over her features. How desperate she was for companionship. It made her fragile in a way she ought not to be.
"Yes," she said.
"What name should I call you by? In case we get separated in combat."
"I am Master Aqua."
Sephiroth smiled, did his best to make it friendly. How lucky she was to have found him.